Add an exotic touch to Thanksgiving rolls

Egyptian blend of herbs, spices, nuts offers savory flavor.

By Alison Ladman
of The Associated Press

Tuesday, November 12, 2013 - 12:01 am

Injecting a taste of the exotic at Thanksgiving is a tricky business. After all, this is a holiday built on tradition; mess too much with what everyone loves and you're going to have some grumpy diners.

Which doesn't mean you can't mix it up a bit. You just have to be selective. Start by leaving the turkey alone. Don't get fancy. Just roast it straight up and delicious. Same goes for the mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy. Nobody wants you changing those.

Ditto for the vegetables. Face it, people aren't eating Thanksgiving dinner for the vegetables, anyway. So do whatever moves you.

The dinner rolls are another place you can play around.

For this recipe, we took a basic — and ridiculously easy — approach to monkey bread (pull-apart bread), and simply added the exotic flavor of dukkah, an Egyptian seasoning blend made from herbs, spices and ground nuts. It has a warm, savory flavor that works well with Thanksgiving staples.

Dukkah monkey rolls

Start to finish: 1 hour 15 minutes (15 minutes active)

Servings: 12

1/4 cup sesame seeds

1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted

1 tablespoon whole coriander seeds

1 tablespoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 cup fresh mint

1/4 cup fresh marjoram

16-ounce frozen white bread dough, thawed

6 tablespoons butter, melted

Coat a muffin tin with cooking spray.

To make dukkah, in a food processor, combine sesame seeds, hazelnuts, coriander, cumin, salt, pepper, mint and marjoram. Pulse until well chopped and sandy in texture.

Cut bread dough into small pieces, about the size of a marble. Place dough pieces in a zip-close plastic bag. Add melted butter, then close bag and toss mixture around inside bag until everything is well coated. Add dukkah and toss again.

Place about 1/2 cup of coated bread dough pieces into each muffin well. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat oven to 400 F.

After dough has sat for 30 minutes, uncover and bake until golden brown and cooked through, about 30 minutes. Cool in pan until easily handled, then remove from muffin wells and serve warm.